Thoughts on Presidents

In case anyone has forgotten, we are still engaged in an all out war with Islamic terrorists. The most recent reminder comes from India and their ongoing struggle to cope with those who would disrupt and even end their daily lives. The effort continues to be made to identify a national identity for these cowardly cretins who are bombing hotels and public places in Mombai. Why this is important to do is unknown to me.

We have become so accustomed, in our history, to assign the blame to national entities that we cannot quite wrap our minds around a more general concept such as “idealistic” Islamic terrorists. Understand well, they owe no allegiance to any state. If that were the case, why in the world would they front an attack in a purely Muslim nation such as Indonesia? Those places in Europe which have been attacked are also host to tens of thousands of fairly new arrivals with Muslim credentials. Spain, Great Britain, and France come to mind.

By not being actors for any specific state, they are at liberty to commit heinous crimes, and not fear a reprisal to any particular homeland. Only when there are concentrations of their constituents, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, etc. are there threats to any specific homeland. I see them more as stateless persons than subjects of any particular national order. The average American has difficulty with being at war with an ideology. How does one carpet bomb that which is in the mind and heart of an aggressor?

Over the last seven plus years, our country has been spared any further incidents of 9/ll type attacks. Even in the face of constant criticism, our government, in spite of its alleged ineptitude has managed to keep the homeland safe from further terror. It has been a cottage industry to demean and criticize George W. Bush but, the inescapable fact is that our nation has not undergone any further attacks under his watch. Like him, or hate him, the least we expect from honest citizens is the acknowledgment of his success in thwarting any further attacks. His legacy will no doubt be as the most under appreciated protector of the republic in its history.

The tinfoil hat crowd has offered every conceivable conspiracy theory to account for the devastating attacks of 9/11. Each has been dealt with soberly and dismissed by those with even a hint of intellect and fairness. Yet, the beat goes on. The attacks on the president have been relentless. It is a cancer which needs to be excised. I recently watched a tape which someone had assembled which characterized the president as a bumbling fool who had difficulty with language and even to a misstep in climbing a stair. Would we be willing to subject our every move to a camera’s critical capture or have each and every inane statement recorded for posterity? I recently fell approaching the number one tee at Honey Creek. I was uninjured and felt a complete fool for the error but at least it wasn’t aired in every living room in America on the six o’clock news. For that matter, I don’t recall seeing your latest faux pas either.

I watch with great interest as the president-elect jettisons position after position as his time of administration comes closer and closer. In his new found proximity to the office, he is starting to see the wisdom in some of the policies he so roundly criticized; total re-organization of the tax structure; maybe later; bring the troops home from Iraq; not right now thank you. We have already dealt with his perceived need to surround himself with people who fully understand the requirements of various cabinet posts. We are a marvelous people who make up the greatest nation on earth; but, we are also quite fickle. You may be the messiah in November but you can easily be reduced to “idiot of the week” by June if you fail to respond to those who “drank the Kool-Aid.” Part of that response requires an acute awareness of the terrorist presence which constantly threatens our nation. To ignore it would be the crassest posture one could assume. These people are serious and also willing to die to make a point. It will require sober judgment, inner strength, and the assistance of God Almighty if we, and our leaders, are to prevail.

To not pray for the success of the president-elect to meet every instance of real danger to the republic would be selfishness beyond belief. If any man ever needed divine guidance, he does. Let us all laugh with him, not at him, as he learns his job. It is in our mutual interest to do so.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon